As far as setting a timeline, as we learned in the Balkans, that’s not a wise decision, because it only empowers those who don’t want us there. And it doesn’t work well to do that.

Does this mean that Kennedy is all alone on his party’s left flank as far as Iraq is concerned? Maybe, but I doubt it. More likely, Reid and Pelosi were cowed by the stunning success of Sunday’s election and have decided, for now, that discretion is the better part of valor.